Becoming a Tenant

We do not have a waiting-list for our self-contained houses and flats.

All our self contained vacancies are offered to existing tenants on our internal waiting list or to the local authority where the vacancy is. If you are on the local authority waiting list, make sure that they know you are happy to be nominated to a housing association vacancy. If you are a single person, you can apply direct for our shared housing (see below).

We do keep a waiting list for rooms in shared properties. CHISEL has a small number of properties where we let out individual rooms in a shared flat or house to single people. We have two such properties in Bromley and three in Brighton. We also have 6 such properties in New Cross. These properties range from 2 people to 4 people sharing a house or flat. The allocations for the properties in New Cross are managed on our behalf by Flamenco Housing Co-op and you would need to apply to Flamenco directly if you are interested in applying for a room there.

Vacancies for these rooms do not occur frequently, but we welcome applications to be on our waiting list. You can download an application form and return it to us by post, or email to [email protected]

The housing you are applying for by returning this form is your own room in a house shared with other single people. The shared facilities will be kitchen, living room and bathroom.

Waiting List

When we receive your form, we will keep it until we have a vacancy. At that point, we will invite you for an interview, which will be with someone from CHISEL and at least one person from the house with the vacancy. Vacancies are infrequent, so it may be some time before you hear from us. If you move in the meantime, please keep us updated with contact details.

If you need housing urgently, you should contact your local authority housing advice centre, or an independent housing advice centre, which may be able to find you something quicker.

This type of housing does not suit everyone. As you will be sharing kitchen and bathroom facilities with other members of the household you need to be able to get on well with other people and co-operate with them.

A tenancy will not be offered if there is evidence that an applicant will not be able to sustain the responsibility of being a tenant. This includes applicants with a proven history of serious nuisance or harassment towards neighbours, and former tenants with arrears still owing to CHISEL

Assured Shorthold tenancy

If you are moving into a shared home, you will be given a 6 months assured shorthold tenancy. If there are no problems at the end of 6 months, you can expect to be offered a long-term tenancy. An assured shorthold tenancy is for a minimum of six months, but can be terminated by either side giving two months notice, or by a court if there are problems such as rent arrears.